On a hot Madurai afternoon, P. Jenita carries a large yellow plastic bag filled with household waste and flings it into Kiruthumal river that ‘flows’ through Ellis Nagar’s Gandhi Colony.
“We can’t help but throw it in the canal. Corporation lorries haven’t visited us in months. They have not answered our plea for a dustbin yet,” she says.
Jenita is not alone. Several storm water drains, much like the shrunken Kiruthumal river, lie in a dilapidated condition due to utter neglect. What was once the city’s main drainage zone is now clogged with sewage, plastic and human waste. It also lacks the carrying capacity or the ability to sustain life without environmental degradation.
This river, independent of the Vaigai, originated in Thuvariman to the west of the city.
It supplied water to several areas, including Ramananathapuram and Sivaganga districts.
Jenita has lived in the area for over 40 years and fondly recollects the times when the Kiruthumal flowed through Ellis Nagar and irrigated the surrounding poromboke lands.
“The river is now dead. It only gives us tonnes of mosquitoes and stench. The Corporation employees come once in a year or two to collect garbage from the channel,” she complains.
Over 18 tanks in Madurai Corporation area are now occupied by concrete structures due to expansion and urbanisation boom since the 1970s, says S. Suthanthira Amalraj, former Public Works Department Executive Engineer.
With erratic construction of culverts, bridges and buildings, the tanks lack the ability to store rainwater.
The Vaigai riverbed, ravaged by incessant sand mining in the 90s, now has a rocky top layer devoid of silt. The available soil is black due to percolation of sewage.
According to Madurai Corporation’s 2006 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) proposal, the primary objective of the ₹251.87 crore storm water drainage project is to ensure that all the major channels are linked to receive flood water from primary, secondary and tertiary drains constructed along the roadside.
“Thus, the entire rainwater collected will be disposed of efficiently through the integrated system of roadside drains and major drains,” states the document.
The lining of the storm water drains that serve as surplus and supply channels to the Vaigai have only helped in controlling traffic, says Mr. Amalraj. Roads have expanded but drains have shrunk.
M. Selvakumar of Sellur says the sludge around Pandalkudi Main Road becomes intolerable during monsoon. “The Corporation authorities clean the area only during times of important functions or when famous people arrive. Ask them to first regularly follow fogging procedures. The mosquito menace is terrible,” he says.
He also laments that no change has come about despite Cooperation Minister ‘Sellur’ K. Raju getting elected from Madurai West constituency.
G. Gengadharan, Manager of Multix Service, says water stagnates outside his store in Ellis Nagar whenever it rains despite the canal being at a distance of 50 feet.
He feels that the underground sewage system is defunct.
Several others agree. A. Nadhiazhagan, an electrician at Arvind Heart Hospital on Karumbalai Main Road, says waste water from all houses in the neighbourhood flows into the adjacent storm water drain. The hospital lies parallel to an open storm water drain.
A. Venkatesan, a resident of K. Pudur, says he has seen untreated sewage water entering Kosakulam drain. “There is a tap attached to a valve. If the treatment plant doesn’t work, they open the sewage into the channel,” he says.
City Engineer A. Mathuram, however, disagrees. He says the presence of sewage in storm water drains is due to unauthorised dumping of waste. “The sewage system is functional and there is no problem with it,” he says.
Doctors point out that drains in Madurai do little to help in curtailing diseases. “Mosquito proliferation will lead to spread of several diseases. Typhoid and cholera will continue to persist. Water-borne diseases will be aplenty. We are willing to help clean the canals with both monetary and physical aid. However, the Corporation must take the first step,” says R.A. Janarthanan, senior consultant at Arvind Heart Hospital.
All tanks must be maintained to store rainwater to their full capacity, says Mr. Amalraj. “This is the only way we can improve our storage reservoirs and improve groundwater level. Unless stringent action is taken against littering, nothing will change,” he adds.
